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Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

Director: Tony Randel

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From Time Out Film Guide

A disappointing sequel to Clive Barker's innovatory 'body horror' pic, which - while making some effort to flesh out the Cenobite mythology - simply performs cosmetic surgery on the original. This time, it's a skinned Julia (Higgins) who writhes up from a blood-caked mattress, while depraved psychiatrist Dr Channard (Cranham) summons Pinhead and his pals with the help of Tiffany (Boorman), a dumb teenager with a penchant for solving puzzles. And when Kirsty (Laurence) receives a message in blood from her Hell-bound father, she plunges into a subterranean labyrinth to save him. Directed with staggering ineptitude, this never approaches the visceral intensity and flesh-crawling terror of the first film. The teenage heroines are too insipid to elicit either interest or sympathy, Julia's graduation from wicked stepmother to Evil Queen erases a crucial element of moral ambiguity, and the labyrinth looks like a cross between an MC Escher painting and a '70s 'progressive rock' album cover. Only Channard's transformation into a Cenobite, and subsequent celebration of his perverse power, match the intellectual complexity and visual ferocity of Hellraiser.

Author: NF 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

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Cast & crew

Director: Tony Randel

Producer: Clive Barker

Cast: Claire Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Kenneth Cranham, Imogen Boorman, Sean Chapman, William Hope, Doug Bradley full cast

Genre(s): Horror

Duration: 93 mins


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